Evolution of Energy Conservation Policies and Tools: The ... › publication › fulltext › 25771201... › publication › fulltext › 25771201...by J Ren · 2012 · Cited by 6 — illustrate the basic structure of energy conservation and emission reduction ... “econ
Energy Procedia 17 (2012) 171 – 177
2012 International Conference on Future Electrical Power and Energy Systems
Evolution of Energy Conservation Policies and Tools: The Caseof Japan Jingbo Ren1, Jun Du2 1
Lab of Resources and Environmental Management, School of Humanities and Economic Management, China University of Geosciences (Beijing) Beijing, China 2 School of Economics, Capital University of Economics and Business Beijing, China
Abstract In the mainland of China, the constraints of environments, resources, especially energy resources, has increasingly become the bottleneck of economic development after reform policy for more than thirty years. In this paper, we illustrate the basic structure of energy conservation and emission reduction from historic, institutional and comparative analysis based on Japan’s case as an example of energy conservation. Our investigation shows the evolution of Japan’s energy conservation policies from a view of energy security to the view of environment protection and low carbon economy. We also analyze the tools that Japan adopted to remove energy conservation barriers.
© by by Elsevier Ltd. Ltd. Selection and/or and/or peer-review under responsibility of Hainan University. © 2012 2011Published Published Elsevier Selection peer-review under responsibility of [name organizer] Keywords:energy conservation; environment; Japan; Earth environments; climate change;
1.
Introduction
After the economic reform and opening-up policies for more than thirty years, the mainland of China became the second largest economy in the world in 2010. At the same time, the constraints of environments, resources, especially energy resources, increasingly become the bottleneck of Chinese economic development. Therefore, the Chinese government urged the strategy of accelerating the transformation of the development model recently. In the Chinese official documents, the phrase “economic growth style” has been taken place by “economic development style” in order to stress the This study is supported by Foundation of Generic Entries of Humanities and Social Sciences Study of Ministry of Education of China (2010): The Inspirations of Japan’s Economic Model Change and Adjustment of Public Economic Policies after the Oil Shocks. The authors also thank for the support of the Lab of Resources and Environmental Management of CUGB.
1876-6102 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Hainan University. doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2012.02.079
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Jingbo Ren and Jun Du / Energy Procedia 17 (2012) 171 – 177
importance of sustainable and healthy development; that is, the government has abandoned the growthcentered blue print and turned to seek the sustainable road for the next “three decades”, which is different from the first “three decades” from a planned economy to a market one. In this paper, we will make clear the basic structure of energy conservation and emission reduction based on historic, institutional and comparative analysis and take Japan as an example of energy conservation. 2. Significances of Energy conservation Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption in order to preserve resources for the future and reduce environmental pollution. There are several significances for energy conservation. The fact of the limited amount of nonrenewable energy sources in the Earth and environment disruption from excessive energy consumption are two key elements. At first, energy conservation should be understood in a view of energy security as fossil fuel is not able to be used for ever. For example, confirmed recoverable reserves are about forty years and coal 160 years. It is natural to implement the strategy to develop new energy in order to substitute fossil recourses and promote energy saving policy. It is important to conserve our current energy resources or to develop renewable sources in order to realize sustainable development for future generations. The two oil shocks in the 1970s forced some countries including Japan to adopt measures to save energy such as Japan. Oil price turmoil in recent years also affected the US’s energy conservation policies. The turmoil of oil prices can be viewed in Figure 1. Secondly, excessive consumption of energy sources has a bad influence to the environment. Today, energy conservation has been connected with protecting global environments. In addition to energy security, climate changes turned out to be a primary factor for energy conservation in the 1990s. The link between Carbon Dioxide emissions and energy consumption is widely recognized as a key energy efficiency policy driver over past two decades.
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